The World We Live In
by Soft Story
Summary: A little boy dreams that one day, he'll be able to explore the world he's read in his books. Follow him on his journey as he makes new friends and allies, discover new things and take part on adventures beyond his imagination.
1. Prologue

The World We Live In

Prologue

Long ago, there was nothing but chaos and destruction.

Peace was only a dream.

And everything was dull and dark.

That was until; a group of seven heroes put the chaos and destruction to an end. The group consisted of: Rondia, a simple florist; Ognus, a veteran swordsman; Yravan, a young magician; Grishmo, a shop keeper; Belldron, a nobleman; Iqiere, an artist; and Vasque, a songstress.

It was unbelievable that only a group of seven people put an end to the chaos. But it wasn't. These people may have been different from each other and came from different backgrounds but they had one thing in common: hope and determination. They hoped for a bright future for the world and were determined to bring it peace. It was a difficult battle but they never gave up.

After one hundred years, the seven finally achieved their goal. Peace became a reality and color was brought to the world. This group of seven unlikely heroes painted the world with their colors, hope and determination.

They painted and united the world with their colors and the people rejoiced their names.

Since then, the remaining lands were united under the heroes' names and a ray of colors on the sky symbolized the seven heroes.


	2. Chapter 1 The boy from the sea

**Chapter 1**

 **The boy from the sea**

"The ball is getting away!"

A group of children run to catch up with the ball. However, they stop dead on their tracks when it bounce pass the crystal walls.

"My mom's gonna be furious!" A little girl exclaimed.

"Don't worry!" said a little boy. "I'll go get it!"

"Are you sure? It went past the borders," another boy said.

The first boy smiles and runs towards the crystal walls. The voices of his friends' warnings went over his head.

To the young boy, this is his chance to finally see what is beyond the giant shards of crystals. He is constantly reminded by his family and friends that it's dangerous to go alone to the borders.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he said to himself.

After making sure that no one sees him, he hides behind some giant crystal shards and waits for people to pass by. After sneaking around, he finally reaches the border. It consists of crystal clusters that reach up to twenty feet tall. But that did not deter the boy's spirit. He look around for the ball and for a crack to sneak out, even for just a little bit.

He didn't find the ball but he did find a hole near the ground. It's small enough to be overlooked by people but big enough for him to crawl in.

Before crouching, he looks around him to see if there is anyone watching. When he's sure there isn't, he crouches down and crawls through the hole.

To the little boy, the small hole is like a little cave filled with wonders. Its crystal walls glow and reflect his image. As he crawls deeper, the colors of the walls gradually change color. Its shine and mirror effect never loosing. Even the ground is a crystal floor.

However, as crawls deeper, his hands touch something soft. He stops and looks down. Below him is a soft ground of the color brown with a lot of green things sticking out of it.

"Grass," he mutters.

He remembers from the books he reads that the green things that come out of the brown ground are grass and the brown ground is soil.

To the young boy, seeing and discovering these things in person are better than just reading about them from books. Of course, books are still important.

Discovering new things fills the boy with excitement and curiosity. By now, he forgot about the ball he should be looking for. Instead, his head is filled with the idea of discovery and knowledge.

With these feelings, he crawls faster through the little hole he calls a cave of wonders. As he crawls deeper, the walls are no longer crystals. Instead, they are rocks and no longer give out the shine and mirror effect. There is more grass as he goes deeper and the light starts to diminish. But that didn't stop the little boy. He continues crawling through the hole until he sees light. It didn't take long for him to reach the end.

The little boy crawls out of the hole and into the light. He stands up and slowly opens his eyes. When he does, his eyes are wide with wonder. Everything around him is far different than what he imagines. They are even better than he imagines. He slowly walks and looks around.

All around him, there are different plants that grow out of the ground. He remembers the plants from the books he reads. With excitement and wonder, he starts naming the plants one by one. He touches the ones that aren't dangerous, he smells the flowers that are safe and takes a bite from a fruit from a non-poisonous plant. He feels as if he's in a magical place. Everything feels surreal to him.

However, when he finds a plant with a round fruit, he remembers the ball he has to find. Due to his curiosity and excitement, he forgot about the task at hand. He looks around carefully for the ball. He carefully searches around the trees and behind the rocks. He examines the ground for any traces of the ball and looks around the bushes. But there are no traces of the ball anywhere. He is starting panic. Not only he's having a hard time looking for the ball, it's also getting late. He needs to find the ball fast before sunset. He doesn't want to worry any of his friends and family. Not only that, they might start a search party for him and he'll get in trouble.

But he won't give up. He needs to find the ball for one of his friends. His friends are waiting for him. He can't give up now. With new found determination, he continues searching for the ball harder. While he's searching, he heard rustling of bushes and a splash. Curious, He goes to the direction of the sound. He hopes that it's the ball he's looking for. When he peaks behind the bushes, he didn't find a ball. Instead, what he discovers leaves him in awe.

Behind the bushes is a beautiful lake. Its water is as clear as the crystals in his homeland. Like polished obsidian, the lake gives off a mirror effect and perfectly creates a reflective image of the sky and the surrounding plants. And the surrounding flora and fauna crowns the lake beautifully and brings out its natural beauty. But that's not all. What really awes him is the young boy in the middle of the lake.

The said boy stands still in the middle of the lake like a statue with his eyes closed. Then he slowly lifts up his arms, as if to summon something. As he does, five pillars of water rise up behind him. From there, he commands them to dance around him like a conductor to an orchestra. As if there is music in the background, the boy dances with the pillars of water. His movements are beautiful and graceful. And he never misses a step, even with his eyes closed.

To the boy behind the bushes, it is much more than that. To him, he feels as if he's watching a beautiful nymph dance on the lake. The five pillars of water that dance around the unknown boy remind him of the crystal birds that fly around his homeland's sky. The crystal clear waters refract the light and create a beautiful ray of colors that reminds him of the lore of the world he lives in. The lake, which serves as the unknown boy's stage, shimmers from the light that passes through the trees. And the mysterious boy, not noticing the curious eyes, continues to dance to his heart's content.

The boy behind the bushes decides to stop. He needs to focus on the task at hand. He shouldn't get distracted any more than he already is. With reluctance, he carefully stood up and walks away. However, instead of walking away silently, he trips on a tree root and falls to the ground with a loud thud. He silently hopes that he didn't disturb the mysterious boy. But instead of silence, he hears large splashes of water.

He gulps and carefully stands up. He really hopes that he won't be noticed by the mysterious boy aside from the loud thud. He listens for any rustling of leaves or splashes of water. There is none. Thinking that the coast is clear, he sighs and walks away. However, he doesn't feel the ground beneath him. When he looks down, he sees that he's being lift up in the air by an unknown force. He starts to panic and move around in the air.

"Stop panicking."

The boy in the air stops panicking and looks for the owner of the voice. He turns around and finds that it's none other than the mysterious boy in the lake.

"When I put you down, I want you to tell me why you're spying on me. Got it?"

He agrees and is gently put down. "Now tell me," the other boy demands.

"I was looking for a ball and I thought if it went here."

"That still doesn't explain why you were spying on me."

"Well," the little boy starts, "I walking around when I saw you danced. I thought it was beautiful."

The mysterious boy accepts the answer and eyes him up and down.

"You're from the land of mirrors," he states.

"Yes I am," the other smiles, "And you're from the land of the sea. My name's Jiang Wei, what's yours?"

The mysterious boy eyes him for bit then smiles, "I'm Zhong Hui."

"It's nice to meet you!" Jiang Wei exclaims.

Zhong Hui raises a brow, "Shouldn't you have somewhere to be?"

Jiang Wei realizes that he has to go home. It's almost sunset and he still didn't find the ball.

"I'm sorry but I have to go now! I'll see you next time, okay?" He didn't even give Zhong Hui a chance to reply when he dash off towards the border.

When he got to the border, he quickly crawls through the hole without any stops. When he got out of the hole, he immediately went behind a giant crystal shard to dust of the dirt from his clothes. As he's finishing removing the dirt, he notices something hanging from one of the shards to his left. When he looks closer, it's none other than the ball deflated by the shard. He immediately removes the ball from the shard and runs towards his friends. When he reaches his friends, they immediately bombard him with questions.

"Where have you been?"

"Where did you find the ball?"

"What happened to the ball?"

"Why do you smell weird?"

Jiang Wei easily answers the questions given to him. Of course, he leaves out the part where he crawls through the border. He tells them that he found the ball stuck on one of the shards and its transparent appearance gave him a hard time. As for the question about his smell, he doesn't know how to answer that. He doesn't know how to tell them why smells like soil. Before he can answer that, their parents calls for them to come back home for supper. When his mom smells him, she just brushes it off as sweat from playing.

After supper, he takes a bath, changes his clothes and gets ready for bed. But before going to sleep, he records the day's events into his journal, including his encounter with the boy, Zhong Hui.

While writing the day's events, he remembers what he said to Zhong Hui before he ran off. He smiles. He'll definitely see the other again. After all, he always wants to go out on an adventure and discover what the world has to offer. After writing, he hides his journal in a secret place and tucks himself to bed.


	3. Chapter 2 Secret Meetings

**Chapter 2**

 **Secret Meetings**

"I'm going out!"

"Be careful!"

Jiang Wei bids his mother good bye and heads out. It's been three days since he last seen the boy from the sea. For three days, he's been reading books about the land of the sea. He wants to learn more about the world outside his homeland. He wants to explore the world and discover new things, but one step at a time. For now, his goal is to meet up with the boy from the sea and ask him questions about his homeland. He thinks that there may be information about the land that is not written in books.

Filled with excitement, he runs down the Peridot road and through the Glass flower meadows. From there, he turns left of the Garnet well and towards the Rock Crystal shards. Behind the shards are the land's border and the hole that leads to the land of the sea.

Before running through the shards, he checks his surroundings to make sure that no one is looking or no one is following him. When he's sure everything is clear, he runs straight to the hole and crawls through. What awaits him at the other side is none other than the boy he met three days ago.

"Zhong Hui," Jiang Wei said as he stands up.

"What took you so long?" The other demands, "You shouldn't keep me waiting."

"You were waiting for me for three days?" Jiang Wei asks, "Why?"

"You said that you'll see me. So I waited. What took you so long?"

"Well, I was busy with school and reading books."

"That's it?"

Jiang Wei nods. Zhong Hui sighs and walks away. When he senses the other is just standing there he looks back and says to him, "Are you coming or are you just going to stand there?"

"Where are we going?" Jiang Wei catches up to him.

"We're going to the lake where we met."

The trip to the lake was short and silent. It didn't take them long to finally reach their destination. When they arrive, the lake is as beautiful as Jiang Wei remembers. Zhong Hui takes a seat on one of the rocks at the side.

"Why do you want to see me again?" Zhong Hui asks while he touches his hair.

"I want to learn more about you and your land," Jiang Wei takes a seat on the ground in front of the other.

"Don't you read those things from books?"

"Well, yes but I thought that there may be somethings that aren't in books."

"Hmm…Okay. I'll answer your questions but only if I get to ask you questions too."

"Deal!"

The two starts sharing information about their lands and each other. In the beginning they were formal when questioning but as time goes on, they drift off to other topics and have fun. They learn each other's likes and dislikes. Their conversation ranges from what they love to read to what they don't like to do. They're having fun by just opening up to each other and sharing their thoughts.

"So all of your people can control water?" Jiang Wei asks.

"Most," Zhong Hui replies, "Some can control fire while others can't control any of the two at all."

"I see."

They continue asking questions about each other for the rest of the day, until the sun is about to set.

"It's getting late," Jiang Wei stands up, "I have to go before my mother gets worried."

"I understand," Zhong Hui stands up as well, "I'll accompany you."

The two walk back in silence to the hole on the border. It didn't take them long to reach it.

"Will you see me again next time?" Zhong Hui asks.

"Of course," Jiang Wei smiles.

They bid each other good bye with the promise of another meeting. Zhong Hui watch the young boy crawl through the hole until he can't see him anymore. When Jiang Wei reaches the end, he checks around to make sure no one is looking before getting out. He dusts off the dirt from his clothes once again and runs home. Along the way, he stops by the Glass Flower meadows to pick some flowers for his mother. When he reaches his house, he knocks first before entering. After waiting for a few seconds, the door swings open revealing his mother. He greets his mother and gives her the flowers.

"Thank you, dear," his mother says, "Where have you been?"

"I was out exploring again," Jiang Wei replies.

"You didn't get hurt or anything did you?"

"Don't worry, I was safe." He smiles.

Jiang Wei hugs his mother before running up the stairs. He goes to his room and locks it. He gets his journal from his secret place and writes down the day's events. He smiles as he writes down everything. When he's done, he hides it again. Then he takes out a different journal. This time, he writes about what he learned from Zhong Hui. Such as the culture and abilities of the other's land and a little bit of its history.

When he's done, he returns the journal back to the shelf and takes a planner. He doesn't want to make his family and friends suspicious of his actions, so he decides to make a schedule on how often he should go out and explore. He also needs to make believable excuses. So he plans out when he's going out to meet his new friend.

"Friend," he smiles.

He likes the sound of that. But does the other boy also see him as a friend? He's not sure. Maybe next time he'll ask the other about that. Also, he needs to plan out what he's going to do during those secret meetings with Zhong Hui. It will get boring if it's just full of question and answer. He needs to think of something engaging that the other will like.

"I wonder what…" he says to himself.

He taps his pencil on his chin and thinks. Then an idea pops into his head. He smiles and writes it down. After that, he returns the planner to the shelf.

"We'll get to know about each other more."

Just the thought about these upcoming secret meetings with the other boy excites him. But he can't let anybody know about these or else he'll get into trouble. Not only that, he doesn't want to trouble the Zhong Hui.

With a plan, he anticipates their next meeting.


End file.
